CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas \u2014 <\/p>\n
The woman stabbed to death at a motel along Interstate Highway 37 last week has been identified as Monica Luna, 53, according to the Nueces County Medical Examiner’s Office. A cause of death is pending.<\/p>\n
Emilio Ybarra, 39, has been charged with murder in connection with Luna’s death and is being held on a $1 million bond, according to an arrest warrant affidavit filed in Nueces County.<\/p>\n
Corpus Christi police were dispatched to the OYO Motel at approximately 10:42 p.m. Aug. 21 in reference to a stabbing, the affidavit states.<\/p>\n
New details in Corpus Christi hotel stabbing<\/p>\n
Officers found Luna in a room with a severe laceration to her left rib cage. She was unresponsive. Medics transported her to Christus Spohn Hospital Shoreline, where she was pronounced dead.<\/p>\n
The affidavit states a fight had broken out between several men and women at the motel. A witness told detectives the group had gone to the motel to find another man’s girlfriend, and an argument between two women escalated into a physical altercation. The witness said Luna pulled a knife and began swinging it during the fight, cutting the witness on the leg. The witness said she then saw Ybarra with a knife and saw him stab Luna, according to the affidavit.<\/p>\n
The group left in a truck after the stabbing. About 90 minutes later, two of them arrived at a hospital seeking treatment for injuries, the affidavit states. The vehicle and subjects matched descriptions from the motel scene.<\/p>\n
Detectives secured a murder warrant, and Ybarra was located on Treyway Lane and taken into custody without incident, according to a Corpus Christi Police Department blotter post<\/a>. He was transported to the City Detention Center for booking.<\/p>\n This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.<\/p>\n For the latest local news updates, click here<\/a>, or download the KRIS 6 News App.<\/a><\/p>\n